The health benefits I knew of, but I meant general life changes. I think I may be trying to make myself believe that my weight is my only problem and it won't fix things that have no connection to it.
Dontrike,
Success breeds confidence, self assurance, and more success. You have set for yourself an extremely challenging yet obtainable goal. This goal requires you to make significant lifestyle changes and your continuous attention. When you succeed, you will
KNOW that you have the ability to accomplish large goals, overcome significant challenges, and work through frustrations and obstacles. Awareness of your abilities
will lead you to solutions for other problems in your life. In effect, the personal growth that occurs during your physical transformation can fix other things in your life.
If you can succeed at this fantastic goal, you can do anything.
The most effective way to achieve a big goal is to break it up into a series of smaller goals. Achieving a smaller goal works in a manner similar to achieving your big goal. Each small goal will also motivate you to continue on to the subsequent small goal. In turn, these smaller goals act as milestones which lead you to your big goal. Careful study of your end-state will help you craft intermediate goals that will help you achieve your final goal.
Not knowing your specific circumstance or your past efforts I would guess a starting plan of actions and milestones (POAM) could look something like this:
Ultimate Goal: reach 220 lbs at 9% bodyfat
1st Milestone: Minimum Physical Activity - 2 months
- Cumulative of 30 min moderate cardio 5x a week
- 30 min of resistance exercise 3x a week
- 3 hrs of fun physical activity on the weekend
2nd Milestone: Physical Activity and Eating Habits - 2 months
- Increase cardio to 1 hr 5x a week, increase resistance exercise 4x a week,
- Park in the furthest parking space where ever I go, take stairs vice elevator/escalator
- Begin to follow an eating regiment that will align your intake of calories with your goal.
ETC.
So the first milestone is reached when you've accomplished the actions for 2 months. As you can see, your milestones are not weight specific, they target the contributors to your weight. Your weight is the outcome of your lifestyle, so your milestones should be goals that will help you construct a lifestyle that will help you maintain that weight.